Clothesline cleaner



March 24, 1925.

M. KOCIAN ET AL CLOTHESLINE CLEANER Filed Oct. 12-, 1922 s Sheets-Sheet 1 m in Z KF F s MZMM 5 fm March 24, "1925.

' MJKOCIAN ET AL' ACLOTHESLINE CLEANER Filed 001;. 12. 1922 s sneissiwet s gwwnto o Mary Kccz'an. Mary Perri,

Joseph Kocan.

Cf; arias Fer)" i/ M iii-u? Patented Mar. 24, 1925.

UlTE TATFS oFFlcE.

MARY KOCIAN, MARY FERRI, JGSEPHI KOOIAN, AND CHARLES FERRI, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

CLOTHESLINE CLEANER.

Application filed October 12, 1922.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, MARY KoorAN, MARY FERRI, Josnrrr KooIAN, and CHAnLns Fnnnr, citizens of the United States, residing at Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothesline Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for cleaning pulley clothes lines.

Heretofore it has been found impractical to clean both the upper and lower stretches of su3h a line, while hung, because of the fact that the knot in the line could not pass about the pulleys over which the line was trained. With the expenditure of considerable energy one could clean the lower stretch of the line but the top stretch could not be cleaned without disengaging the line from the pulleys or unhooking the pulleys, and as this involved considerable labor the line was generally permitted to accumulate dirt and dust upon its upper stretch. Under these conditions, clothes hung upon the line would, in windy weather, be blown in corn tact with the upper stretch of the line and would become soiled. In consideration of the foregoing it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a device adapted to be applied to any ordinary pulley line and adapted in its operation to thoroughly clean both stretches of the line, or in other words substantially the entire length of the line.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for the purpose stated which may be readily applied to the line even in the darkness and without interference on the part of the knot in the line and which device will embody a cleaning member in the nature of a cloth supported and firmly held in place by gripping means adapted to draw the wiper cloth snugly about the line so as to most effectually wipe the dust and dirt therefrom in the travel of the device between the line supporting pulleys.

Another object of the inv ntion is to so construct the device that the cleaning cloth employed in connection therewith may be adjusted so as to present, successive portions of its area to the line thus adapting a clean or fresh portion of the cloth to be brought into position for use before or after operation.

Serial No. 594,134.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for the purpose stated embodying a pair of members swingingly connected and arranged to hold between them a cleaning cloth which is snugly and firmly drawn about the stretches of the clothes line by the said members when closed, the members being provided with projecting fingers which when properly engaged by the lower stretch of the clothes line will effect a yieldable closing of the device about the said lower stretch of the line, the fingers serving also as a means whereby slack may be taken up in the line and whereby the device may be connected with the lower stretch of the line for movement therewith.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an edge elevation of the device, embodying the invention, in use;

Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of the device, the stretches of the clothes line to which it is applied being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a similar view, the cloth holding devices being swung open so as to adapt the device to be applied to or removed from the line;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the device with the cloth removed;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the device illustrating one manner in which the lower stretch of the clothes line may be engaged therewith to take up slack in the line;

Fig. 7 is a similar view illustrating another of the many ways in which the said lower stretch may be so engaged.

In the drawings the reference letter L indicates in general the ordinary clothes line which is trained about the pulleys P and the ends of which line are tied together in a knot K as is customary. As before stated it has been heretofore impractical to clean the entire length of the line because of the fact that the knot K could not pass the pulleys and therefore the upper stretch of the line has been left uncleaned and in a short while accumulates considerable dust and dirt. Generally speaking, the device embodying the invention embodies swingingly connected members upon which a cleaning cloth may be arranged and which members are adapted to be closed so as to adapt the cloth snugly about the clothes line, the deuntil the line has been engaged in said eyes. (The member 2 is in the meanwhile swung dowi'iwardly toward the member 1, and in the final disposition of the parts as shown in Fig. 3, the cloth will be firmly clamped by the toothed edges of the flanges of the members 16 and 2:2 and will be snugly drawn about the clothes line. In this manner the cloth is caused to snugly encompass the upper stretch of the clothes line and when the device is slid along said line will of course thorougly wipe off and clean the same. \V hen it is desired to present a fresh or clean surface of the cloth to the line it is only necessary to relatively open the members l and 2 as shown in Fig. 4e and then slide the cloth longitudinally a short distance of its length.

After the device has been engaged with the upper stretch of the line in the manner above pointed out, the lower stretch of the line is engaged over one or more of the fingers 14: and one or more of the fingers 20, this being done either as shown in Fig. l or as shown in Fig. 6, or even for example as shown in Fig. 7, and in fact there are many ways in which the said lower stretch of the line might be engaged with any or all of the fingers 1d and 20, this engagement of the said stretch of the line with the said fingers serving to connect the closed device with the said lower stretch so that when motion is imparted to this stretch the device will be drawn along the upper stretch of the line at the same time the said upper stretch is drawn in the opposite direction through the device. As a natural consequence there will be a relatively rapid movementof the device and the line passing through the eyes thereof so that the cloth will be adapted to thoroughly clean the entire length of the line. The engagement of the lower stretch of the line with the fingers 14 and 20 serves also to maintain the members 1 and 2 in flexibly closed relation so that the cloth will be held firmly by the eoacting gripping means about the line and so that there can be no disarrangementof the parts. Also the engagement of the said lower stretch of the line in a Zigzag or crossed manner between, over, and below the said fingers provides for taking up of slack in the line to substantially any extent desired. By reference now to Fig. 1 of the drawings it will be readily understood that whereas it has heretofore been only possible to clean one-half the length of the line, by the use of the device embodying the invention practically the entire length of the line may be cleaned so that after the device has been used both stretches of the line will be free from dust and dirt.

Of course any suitable cleaning composition may be employed upon the cloth if found desirable and in fact two of the devices might be employed upon a line to follow one another, one supporting a wet cloth carrying a cleaning composition and the other a dry wiping cloth.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines, comprising associated members relatively movable to open and closed positions, a wiper cloth disposed between the mem-, bers, the members being adapted to confine between them one stretch of the line to be cleaned and with the Wiper cloth eneom passing said stretch, and means whereby both of said members may be connected with the other stretch of the line.

2. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines comprising swingingly connected members arranged to confine between them a wiper cloth and a stretch of the clothes line encompassed thereby, the said members being provided with means engageable by the other stretch of the line for connecting the closed device with the last-mentioned stretch and for maintaining the members closed.

3. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines comprising swingingly connected members, one of said members having seating means to receive one stretch of the clothes line anda cloth encompassing the stretch, the other member when in closed position being designed to retain the said line stretch and cloth within the seat, and means associated with both of said members and engageable by the other stretch of the clothes line to connect the closed device with the last-mentioned stretch for travel therewith and maintain the secondunentioned member in closed position.

l. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines comprising a member provided. with spaced open eyes to receive a stretch of the clothes line, a second member associated with the first-mentioned member and arranged to close said eyes, means associated with the members for supporting a wiper cloth and holding the same in encompassing relation to the said line stretch, and means adapting both of said members for connection with the other stretch of the line.

5. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines comprising swingingly connected members, a wiper cloth supported by and between the members, the members being arranged to accommodate and retain between them and within a fold of the cloth one stretch of the clothes line, means associated with the members and engageable by the other stretch of the clothes line to connect the closed device for travel with the last- :tnentioned stretch and to maintain the members in yieldably closed relation, and c0- acting gripping means for the wiper cloth carried by the said members.

6. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines comprising swingingly connected members arranged to confine between them a stretch of the clothes line and a wiper cloth encompassing the said stretch, and a plurality of anchoring elements carried by each of the said members, the elements upon both members being at the same time engageable by the other stretch of the clothes line whereby to connect the closed device for travel with the last-mentioned stretch, to maintain the members closed, and to permit of slack in the line being taken up.

7. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines comprising swingingly connected members arranged to confine between them a stretch of the said clothes line and a Wiper cloth encompassing said stretch, and fingers projecting from each of the members and arranged to collectively assume a relatively staggered relation when the members are closed, the other stretch of the clothes line being adapted to be engaged above, beneath, and about said fingers whereby to connect the closed device with the stretch for travel therewith,to hold the members of the device snugly about the first-mentioned stretch of the line, and to take up slack in the line.

8. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines comprising swingingly connected members, a Wiper cloth supported by and between the members, the members being arranged to accommodate and retain between them and within a fold of the cloth one stretch of the clothes line, means associated with the members and engageable by the other stretch of the clothes line to connect the closed device for travel with the last mentioned stretch of the line and to maintain the members in yieldably closed rela tion, and toothed gripping bars carried by the members and arranged to engage opposite sides of that portion of the wiping cloth which is adjacent the fold which encompasses the first mentioned stretch of the clothes line.

9. A cleaning device for pulley clothes lines comprising swingingly connected members, a wipercloth supported by and between the members, open eyes upon the opposite ends of one of the members arranged to receive the upper stretch of the clothes line, the wiper cloth having a portion of its length adapted to be folded overthe said stretch of the clothes line between the eyes, means associated with the members and engageable by the other stretch of the clothes line to connect the closed device for travel with the last-mentioned stretch and to maintain the members in yieldably closed relation, and coacting toothed cross bars carried by the members and arranged to engage opposite sides of that portion of the wiper cloth which is folded over the said upper stretch of the clothes line and thereby maintain the fold in the cloth closed.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

CHARLES FERRI. a 5. 

